Separating and feeding mechanism for envelopes



EqE. GRAY May 14, 1940.

SEPARATING AND FEEDING MECHANISM FOR ENVEIJGPES Filed Jan 4, 1958 Patented May 14, 1940 2,200,842

'UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE SEPARATING AND FEEDING MECHANISM FOR ENVELOPES Elmer E. Gray, Gliftondale, Mass.

Application January 4, 1938, Serial No. 183,245

Claims. (Cl. 271-41)- The present invention relates broadly to septheir upper surfaces are promotive of non-sliparating and feeding mechanisms for envelopes, ping frictional contact with the envelopes which cards and similar objects, and specifically to septhey are designed to feed.

arating and feeding mechanisms of the type To the cross bar 4, secured by the threaded, :1 shown and described in my U. S. Patent No. screw 6 to the upright 5, forming a part of the "5 1,506,423. frameworkwherein the rotatable drum I is The principal object of the present invention mounted .to revolve, is affixed, by the bolt I, the is to provide a separating and feeding mechanut 8, and the washer 9, the separating member nism of'the character described, whereby the enill, which extends downwardly toward the ro- I, lo velopes, cards or similar objects to be fed can tatable drum I. This separating member If) con- '14) be separated individually from a pile or stack of sists of a flexible resilient strip, which, at its lower the same and can be fed in a substantially conextremity, is narrowed to form a tongue portion tinuous manner at a relatively high rate of speed, l l, in width approximately one third of the maxand yet whereby not more than a single envelope imum Width of the separating member ID, and 1-3 will be fed at one time. this tongue portion ll extends into the space 12 15 Another object of the present'invention is to intervening between two of'the' friction members provide a separating and feeding mechanism for 2 which are separated by a distance substantially envelopes, cards and similar objects having a equal to the width of the tongue portion II; The construction more simple and having parts fewer envelope support i3 is secured to the framework, in number than has the separating and feeding wherein the rotatable drum I is mounted to re- 20 mechanism of the type shown and described in volve, by suitable means. the patent to which reference'has been made, If now a stack of envelopes is positioned, as is The attainment of these, and other, objects shown in Fig. 1, one end of the bottom envelope by the present invention will become apparent in the stack rests upon the support l3 and the when the following detailed description is read other and rests upon the toothlike projections 3 25 in conjunction with an examination of the acof the rubber bands 2. Particular attention is companying drawing wherein like numerals of called to the fact that the spacesintervening bereference denote like parts in the several views, tween adjacent sets of toothlike projections 3 and wherein are, in magnitude, sufficiently small, so that the Fig. 1 is a side elevation of a separating and forward end of the bottom envelope will invari- 30 feeding mechanism constructed in accordance ably rest upon the top surfaces of one of the with the present invention, groups of toothlike projections 3, and that, dur- Fig. 2 is a left lateral elevation, partly in secing the operation of the separating and feeding tion, of the separating and feeding mechanism mechanism, the stack of envelopes will not be shown in Fig. 1, subjected to any perceptible up-and-down pawl- Fig, 3 is a side elevation of the separating and and-ratchet movement by the frictional engaging feeding mechanism shown in Fig. 1, exhibiting of successive groups of the toothlike projections a single envelope in the process of being fed, and 3 with the under surfaces of the envelopes. The Fig. 4 is a left lateral elevation of the separatmanner in which the tongue portion ll of the ing and feeding mechanism shown in Fig. 3. separating member ID fits snugly between two of 40 As shown in the drawing, the present inventhe friction members, extending into the intertion comprises .a rotatable drum I, mounted to vening space 12 to a depth equal to the length of revolve in a suitable framework and provided at the toothlike projections 3 is shown in Fig. 2.

, its periphery with friction members in the form When the drum is rotated slightly, in a clockof a plurality of rubber bands 2, which, encirwise direction, the envelopes in the stack assume cling the rotatable d are Spaced pa and the positions shown in Fig. 3, for the envelopes are separated by distances in magnitude less than in the lower portion of the stack are pulled forthe widths of the envelopes to be fed, and-which ward by mutual frictional contact and their rear a p v d at arly spaced short intervals, ends slide down upon the support l3. The forwith groups of toothlike projections 3, in lengths ward movement of these envelopes in the lower substantially equal to the thicknesses of the rubportion of the stack bends the tongue portion ll ber bands 2 with which they are integral. These of the separating member l0 into an arc, as is toothlike projections 3 are, in character, defishown in Fig. 3. Further rotation of the drum nltely yielding under compressive stresses, and l pulls the bottom envelope forward and beneath 55 the end of the tongue portion H of the separating member in, and the end of the tongue portion H, resting upon the upper surface of the bottom envelope, as is shown in Fig. 4, exerts a slight downwardly directed force, pressing it into intimate contact with the tcothlike projections 3. Particular attention is called to the fact that no buckling of the envelope under the pressure exerted by the tongue portion H can occur, since the width of the tongue portion" H is equal to the distance separating the friction members between which it is normally positioned when the separating and feeding mechanism is not in use. Therefore, as the drum l is rotated, the bottom envelope rides flatly upon the tcothlike projections 3 of the friction members under the pressure exerted by the tongue portion l I of the separating member ID.

As the rear end of the bottom envelope approaches the separating member I i the envelope resting upon the upper surface of the bottom envelope moves forward very slightly, and, at the instant that the bottom envelope is carried out of engagement with the end of the tongue portion II of the separating member Hi, this second en-v velope is carried into engagement with the end of the tongue portion II. By observations made upon the separating and feeding mechanism in action, I have noted that when the bottom are velope is held, near its rear edge, in engagement between the end of the tongue portion H and the set of tcothlike projections 3 then positioned directly beneath the end of the tongue portion 1 i, the immediately following set of toothlike projections may make contact with the under side of the next envelope and may carry it forward and beneath the end of the tongue portion H before the bottom envelope has passed out of engagement between the end of the. tongue portion II and the first set of toothlike projections 3, but no simultaneous feeding ofthe two envelopes ever occurs by reason of any minute overlapping of the ends of the two envelopes beneath the end of the tongue portion 1 I of the separat- 'ing member [0 at the instant of disengagement of the lower envelope.

From the description of the operation of this separating and feeding mechanism, it is obvious that the tongue portion H of the separating member ID, when once bent into an arc, does not regain its initial form during the separating and feeding of a stack of envelopes, and hence the end of the tongue portion l I does not reenter the space l2 intervening between the friction members until the separating and feeding operations areinterrupted or concluded.

The qualities of flexibility and resiliency, which must be possessed by the separating member if it is to function efficiently, are satisfactorily attained in a separating member constructed from a thin sheet of spring brass or metal of similar characteristics, while the most suitable spacing of the sets of toothlike projections is realized when the distance between adjacent sets of the tcothlike projections is not markedly different from the lengths of the tcothlike projections; but I do not wish to limit, in either of these respects, the present invention Whose scope is defined in and by the appended claims.

Having thus fully described the present inenvelopes, cards and similar objects, in combination, a drum tosupport and to feed the envelopes, a plurality of friction members encircling the periphery of the drum to rotate therewith-and to increase the frictional engagement of the drum with the envelopes being fed, and a flexible resilient separating member whose endpo-rtion is positioned to fit snugly between a pair of the I friction members.

2. In a separating and feeding mechanism for envelopes, cards and'similar objects, in combination, a rotatable drum to feed the envelopes, a plurality of friction members disposed upon the periphery of the rotatable drum to rotate there with and provided with series of sets of yielding tcothlike projections spaced apart at distances substantially equal to the lengths of the yielding tcothlike projections, and a flexible resilientseparating member to press an envelope into contact with successive sets of the yielding toothlike projections.

3. In a separating and feeding mechanism for envelopes, cards and similar objects, in combination, a rotatable drum to support and to'feed the envelopes, a plurality of rubber bands disposed upon the periphery of the rotatable drum in parallel arrangement and provided with series of groups of yielding toothlike; projections spaced apart at distances substantially equal to the lengthsof the yielding tcothlike projections, and fiat spring means, positioned intermediate a pair of the rubber bands and provided with anend portion of width equal to the distance separating the said pair of rubber bands, to press an envelope in non-buckling frictional engagement. i with successive groups of yielding tcothlike pro- 4. In a separating and feeding mechanism for envelopes, cards and similar objects, in combination, a rotatable drum to support and tofeed the envelopes, a plurality'of friction members encircling the periphery of the drum to rotate therewith and to effect frictional engagement with theenvelopes to be fed, and a flexible resilient separating member providedwith a tongue portion and positioned intermediate a pair of the friction members, with the tongue portion extending into the space separating the friction members to within a short distance from the sur- "face of the rotatable drumand fitting snugly between the friction members. 7

5. In a separating and feeding mechanism for envelopes, cards and similar objects, in combination, a rotatable drum to support and to feed the f 

